Brain Quest Workbook: 4th Grade: 1 (Brain Quest Workbooks) Paperback – 9 July 2008

I love these books, although I wish there was for focus on social studies and science. With that said, I bought this new, but half of it was already filled in!

These books are a staple in my house. I started using them about 2yrs ago and there has been massive improvements for both my kids 8 and 9yrs old. Along with some other learning resources these books are fun and easy to use.

very good review book

Easy to follow instructions, very informative, and helps my 9 year-old to exercise her brain in learning all thebasics of elementary curriculum.Living in a non-English speaking country, this workbook is very helpful in expanding my daughter's English with the Language Arts,Reading,Writing & Spelling sections. She enjoys the Math Skills most which is more or less universal.Overall, it is an excellent learning book that takes my daughter's mind away from television after school.

This is one in a series of workbooks, each of which offers an abundance of learning activities, exercises, and games that are presented with superb production values. Appropriate to the given age level, much of the material focuses on basic subjects such natural science, mathematics, history, and social studies while enabling children to strengthen their reading, reasoning, and writing skills. The editors of Brain Quest believe that:"All kids are smart - though they learn at their own speedAll kids learn best when they're having funAll kids deserve the chance to reach their potential - given the tools they need, there's no limit how far they can go!"I agree, while presuming to add that children will learn more and have more fun meanwhile if, when completing various exercises, adults are involved. As a parent of four and a grandparent of ten, I can personally attest to the pleasure an adult will also have. Each volume in the series is a WORK book. Exercises are completed with crayolas or pencils on the page on which it appears. Correct answers are provided. One caveat: Resist the temptation to control the learning process as a child completes an exercise.This volume, Grade 4 (ages 9-10), was written by Barbara Gregorich, with Patty McGee serving as consulting editor. It is worth noting that McGee is a past winner of the Milken Foundation National Educator Award. The material consists of organized curriculum-based exercises that help children strengthen their skills in spelling and vocabulary, language arts, reading, writing, math skills, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, geometry and measurement, probability and data, solving word problems, social studies, science...and following directions. Also included are more than 150 stickers, an all-new Brain Quest Mini-Card Deck, and a fold-out "Seven Continents, One World" poster.All exercises are cleverly designed, with specific directions that are easy to understand, visually appealing. Gregorich and McGee include with most of the exercises a "Brain Box" in which a key term is defined. Here is a representative selection:"Letter to a Friend"Read the following letter.If a word needs an apostrophe, write it in.If an apostrophe does not belong, cross it out. (Page 35)"Drafting a Personal Essay"Using your map on page 111, write a three paragraph draft of your personal essay.Remember to:- Use the first person- Include a topic sentence in each paragraph.- Use descriptive language, vivid details, and dialogue wherever you can.- Have a strong conclusion or point that you want to get across. (112)"Writing a Fairy Tale"Think of a good idea for a fairy tale.Plan when and where your story will take place by filling out the box below.Next, think about your main character and at least one other character. (113#)"The Facts About Factors"Fill in the missing factors.Write all the possible factors for each number [that follows].Finish [these] math sentences. (174)"Puppies and Parakeets"Answer [each of the following] questions using a bar graph. (234)"Inventions and Creations"The time line shows inventions between the years 1500 and 2000.Some of these have to do with the growing or storing of food.Some have to do with clothing, and some with communication.Write each invention of creation on the correct card including the year it was invented. (254)"Go Online"Research your state in an atlas, an encyclopedia, or on the internet.Fill in as much information as you can on the lines below. (264)"The Earth"Read about our home planet [in the paragraph that follows].Answer [these] questions. (276-277)"Science Crossword"Read each clue below.Write the answer in the crossword puzzle. (294)Each of the volumes in this series (pre-K through Grade 4) would be an excellent book for parents, grandparents, and others to purchase and then share with a child at an appropriate stage of her or his development. No doubt there are precocious children who will prefer more challenging material associated with later grades but I think it would be a mistake to rush the process. Worse yet, to indicate little interest in it.Congratulations to the Workman Publishing Company and especially to the editors of Brain Quest. How pleased they must be to know that their materials have already helped to nourish so many young minds and to delight so many young hearts and, fortunately, will continue to do so for the development of other children in months and years to come